"It would have been nice to be asked," she muttered.
He sniffed, ignoring her. He tested the temperature of the water with his wrist, wanting the water just right. He wasn't done being pissed yet, but he wanted to relax with his mate before he damn well exploded from stress.
"I didn't realize."
"Realize what?"
She sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist. "When I did that spell I did it on the fly."
His hands stalled. He felt dizzy. He could not have just heard what he'd heard. "What?"
"I mean, I knew what I needed, I just didn't know the words, you know? Not the exact ones, anyway."
Her hands were stroking his chest, but he didn't feel it. All he could feel was the new gray hair sprouting on his head. His heart pounded in fear. His little witch had stopped Cole with a made up spell? Did she have any idea what could have happened to her? He stood to his full height, turning to face her. She flinched, and he knew his wolf was closer to the surface than he'd thought.
"What? It worked, didn't it?"
No fear. Not one single ounce of fear in her. Defiance, a hint of remorse, but that was it.
Chris growled, and it wasn't human. His wolf had taken over, and it was pissed. Lana gasped, backing away from him, from his anger. He shifted, needing to run, needing to get away before he said something or did something he'd regret. He went to the window, pressing a specially made latch with his paw. The window swung open and he leapt out into the mid-afternoon sun.
"Chris, wait! Please!"
He ignored her, running into the forest, intent on taking out his rage on some poor, defenseless rab-bits rather than her soft, sweet skin.
Chapter Eleven
"You did what?" Daniel, obviously astonished, ran his fingers through his hair.
"Damn, no wonder he's pissed." Gareth shook his head at her, his expression somewhere between reluctant admiration and anger. He looked the worse for wear, his arm in a sling to protect his collar bone, the stitches near the knife wound black against his golden skin. He lounged on the sofa, his feet up, looking pale and pissed.
"Pass the peanuts, dickhead. Stop hogging them." Zachary pulled the bowl towards him, smiling happily.
"She could have been killed, idiot." Daniel snatched the bowl back, ignoring his brother's whine.
"She's lucky Christopher didn't spank her ass and tie her to the bed."
"Or worse." Gareth looked at his brothers. "Mom."
They shuddered.
Lana slouched deeper into the chair. Two of the brothers definitely were taking Christopher's side, and she just couldn't understand why. "What did I do that was so bad, anyway?"
They looked at her with blank astonishment. Gareth broke the silence. "You never, ever use an untested spell! It's the first thing that's drummed into our heads when we're still in diapers!"
"You had no idea what components he'd used to cast the original spell, so your counter-spell could have interacted poorly and blown up in your face, or worse, made his spell stronger." Daniel began pacing, ticking points off on his fingers. "You didn't scry to see what protections he'd put up.
Again, this could have lead to your spell blowing up in your face. Placement of the counter-spell needs to be laid out precisely." Daniel threw his hands up in the air. "Frankly, I'm surprised you're still alive."
"I'm not." Zach handed her a peanut.
Lana took it. "Thank you."
Daniel snorted. "Of course you aren't. You'd have done the same harebrained thing, and we'd be explaining to Mom how you wound up smeared all over Christopher's back yard. Even then I'm not sure you can pull it off. Sorry, but of the four of us you're the weakest, bro."
Zachary looked ticked for a moment before picking up the peanut bowl, his usual sunny smile back in place. "You're just mad because a girl kicked Cole's ass."
Lana watched them arguing, but her attention remained on Zachary. Something about the youngest Beckett had her instincts hopping to attention. That strange cross-reference in The Registry popped back into her mind.
When the other brothers weren't looking, Zach flicked his finger. A peanut, physically untouched, went flying out of the bowl and struck Daniel in the back of the head.
Daniel turned and glared at his brother. "Did you just throw a peanut at me, you juvenile twat?"
Gareth sighed. "Like calling him a twat is more adult?"
"I'm not the one starting a food fight!" And they were off again, squabbling like … well, family.
With a soft smile Lana pointed her finger at the peanut bowl. Three peanuts jumped into the air and pelted the brothers. When they turned back to her, she smiled. "Shut the fuck up." She stood. "We have more important things to worry about, like how Christopher is going to beat Cole." And how to break it to Zach that he's a witch, not a wizard. She would double-check in The Registry, but her instincts were usually dead on. If Zach was a wizard, she'd eat her favorite pair of lace panties.
"I think you should stay out of it. You've done enough." Daniel's voice was cold.
"Leave her alone." Zach, bless his heart, got in between his brothers and her. "She did something none of the rest of us could do. She broke Cole's spell before someone got hurt. She's also Christopher's mate, and that makes her a Beckett, whether your dumb ass likes it or not."
She tapped Zach on the shoulder. "Actually, I think you would have been just fine." She hitched a thumb at Gareth and Daniel. "They, on the other hand, would have been paste."
Daniel made a rude noise. "Sorry, but Zach is barely strong enough to qualify as a wizard."
"Prick!" Zach started to lunge, but Lana's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Which just means that Zach is one of the most powerful witches I've ever met."
The brothers, shocked, froze.
"Excuse me?" Zach turned to face her. "Witch?"
She nodded, seeing the longing, the need, inside him. She bet he'd found trying to be a wizard more than a little frustrating. The fact that he'd accomplished anything at all told her just how powerful he must be, but she didn't want him to know too much too soon. Not until Grammy had a look at him. "You'll need to be assessed, but I'm betting you'll grade fairly high on the scale." Actually, you might break the scale.
Zach gulped, his eyes wide.
Daniel laughed.
She wanted to smack Daniel when Zach's eyes filled with hurt.
But when they filled with anger … when he turned to his brother …
She stepped between Daniel and Zach and placed her hand on Zach's chest. "No!" She pulled his face down to hers. "Anger is what cursed the Becketts. Never cast in anger." She waited until she saw he'd acknowledged that, breathing deep, reigning in the rage.
"I wouldn't have."
She might have believed him if he hadn't been talking through clenched teeth. "Take that anger. Di-lute it. Channel it. Allow it to fuel you, but never allow it to use you." She huffed. "A witch gets a stronger boost the more they feel. Love, anger, hate, determination, all of it fuels your gift, but if you allow it to rule your gift, you will find yourself on the wrong end of the karma stick. Got it?"
That got through. "Karma stick?" Zach's lips twitched, the tension in his shoulders easing.
"The witch who cursed you? She's a giant bunny."
Zach blinked, swallowing hard. "Bunny?"
"Her great great great blah blah grandchildren are serious vegetarians."
Zach collapsed into a chair, laughing his ass off.
"You really think he's a witch?" Gareth was frowning at them, but he looked intrigued.
She nodded. "Yes."
"How do you know?" Daniel still sounded hostile, but some of the wind had gone out of his sails.
She grinned slowly. "Let's just say it takes one to know one." She flicked her finger, and every peanut in the bowl landed on Daniel.
She slid her arm through Zach's and hauled him to his feet, ignoring both Daniel's sputtering and Gareth's laughter. "Come along, Zach. You and I have someone to talk to." She led the still chuckling Zach out of the room and went looking for Annabelle. Grammy was going to love this. A Beckett witch?
Zach's parents were going to shit a cow.
* * * *
Christopher returned from his run to find Gareth and Daniel sitting quietly in his office, waiting for him. The Registry lay open between them, the picture of Zach smiling up at them. "What's wrong?" Daniel glared at him. "When were you going to tell us Zach is a witch?"